The Joe Shuster Awards will be presented on Saturday, September 20th in Toronto, Ontario at BACK SPACE TORONTO, 587A College Street (2nd Floor). Ceremony will commence at 8 pm.

June 4, 2014 – Canada has a rich tradition of supporting our national arts communities with awards that recognize the achievements of our citizens like the Genie Awards for film and television and the Juno Awards for music – the JOE SHUSTER AWARD is Canada’s national award that honours and raises the awareness of Canadians that create, self-publish and sell comics books, graphic novels and webcomics.

Joe Shuster

They are named after pioneering Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster (1914-1992), whose clear, dynamic style and inventive visual flourishes set the standard for graphic storytelling during the infancy of the North American comic book industry. It was Superman, a co-creation of Shuster and his friend Jerry Siegel, that electrified the industry over 75 years ago in 1938 and, almost overnight, transformed comic books into an enormous pop-cultural phenomenon.

Nominees were selected this spring from lists of creators of original works published and distributed during the year 2013. Qualifying creators must be Canadian citizens – living at home or abroad, or a recognized permanent resident. The award winners will be chosen by a jury vote to ensure every nominee is given adequate consideration.

Okay, so we’re nearing the end of the extension given for the Retailer, Webcomics, Comics for Kids, and Gene Day Awards and if all goes as planned we’ll be announcing the nominations next week.

I would like to thank the many folks who have contacted me about being involved in the awards this year, I’ll be contacting you all shortly and we can begin planning for the ceremony and fundraising as soon as the nominations list goes public.

As usual, it should be stated that since these are awards with only 7 (sometimes 8) nominees per category, not everyone can be nominated for an award. Our committees have been narrowing down the lists to a smaller set of nominations (in some categories from hundreds of individual artists) and we know that inevitably some people will feel we neglected a creator, a book, or a store…

Congratulations to the winners of the Doug Wright Awards for 2014 (handed out as usual at TCAF in Mid-May) for non-mainstream, non-superhero comics:Best Book – Paul Joins the Scouts by Michel Rabagliati (Conundrum Press)
Spotlight aka “The Nipper” – Steven Gilbert for The Journal of the Main Street Secret Lodge
Pigskin Peters (non-narrative) – “Out of Skin” by Emily Carroll

There is always a sense of satisfaction when we finally see our children reading, especially when they have been deemed reluctant readers. The phrase that is most often heard, “Well, at least they are reading!” Granted, a milestone has been reached. This cannot be underestimated or relegated to a natural stepping stone that would have ultimately occurred. The difficult truth remains that if a student is not encouraged or driven to read, the process can be markedly protracted with episodes of stagnation and loss of competency with the development of literacy and comprehension. Thus, while there is much to celebrate when a reluctant reader begins to find an interest in reading, which is akin to the germination of a seed. If one wishes a child to flourish and bloom (to use an overstated, and frankly, syrupy term) that initial spark needs to be stoked, so that a competent student can be forged. The question remains, how then do we progress our children beyond that initial “Big Bang” effect? At the heart of the issue is a required acceptance that reading is a long-term temporal construct that requires all stakeholders to recognize that while short-term solutions may affect change (tutoring, differentiated instruction, moments of intervention, and academic accommodations) the genuine drive to move forward rests in the frequency and consistency of the aforementioned short-term solutions acting in concert with each other inside, and perhaps more importantly, outside of the course and classroom experience. Much like the broad consensus regarding student success: an interested and active parent in education equals high performance; so too, the same active and interventionist oversight is required.

Ultimately, our children should be able to gain the techniques required to see and interpret the world behind the book. To take hold of a text and deconstruct it, based on a set of criteria inherent to their ability to read and evaluate/synthesise material. As a laudable goal, this is undoubtedly the end game. The items listed below are the bridges across that great gulf from first contact to mastery. Be warned, be cautious, and be patient, the transference of literacy to a level beyond cursory entertainment-based reading does work in tandem with the passing of time, the development of scholastic skills, and something that cannot be disregarded, the evolution of personality, maturity and life experience that ebbs and flows along an intersecting continuum, not a straight line. Perhaps the former is the factor which most acts as a governor switch on the development of literacy.

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Toronto, ON – Saturday, August 24. Earlier this evening at the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Jackman Hall, the 9th annual Joe Shuster Awards were presented at a gala ceremony hosted by the Toronto Star’s ROB SALEM and Cartoonist TY TEMPLETON.

So in 8 days the big show aka Fan Expo Canada starts at the Metro Convention Centre. This year the show is so massive they had to add a second building and for the first time ever the event will be in both the North and the South Buildings.

Most of the comics folk are in the South Building though, and that’s where the comics programming will be as well.

Many Joe Shuster Award nominees and winners (past and present) are at the event, and we encourage you to visit the website to look at the floorplans and schedules.

Our retail sponsors The Dragon and The Comic Book Lounge (my store) will be in the dealers section along with Harry Kremer award winning retailers Big B Comics (Hamilton) and the Silver Snail (Toronto).

There are two Canadian comics related panels worth checking out:

FRIDAY AUG 23 – 11:15 AM In room 703

THE CANADIAN SUPERHERO RENAISSANCE

With projects like the True Patriot anthology, the Captain Canuck webseries, the Lost Heroes documentary, The Wolverine movie and more – are we witnessing a Canadian superhero renaissance? Where is this all coming from? Does the industry need this? Will the market support it? Are Canadian superheroes poised to be the next big thing in comics?

During WWII the Canadian government initiated the War Exchange Conservation Act and Canadian artists stepped up to fill the void of comics on our newsstands.

Join moderator Ivan Kocmarek and a panel of industry experts as they discuss the first age of Canadian comics and characters like Iron Man, Johnny Canuck, Freelance, The Penguin and many other forgotten heroes and their impact on Canadian-made comics.

ALSO DON’T FORGET THE JOE SHUSTER AWARDS ARE TAKING PLACE ON SATURDAY NIGHT – JACKMAN HALL, ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO! Seating at 8pm – Ceremony to begin around 8:30PM

The Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards Association is pleased to announce the venue of the 2013 Joe Shuster Awards Ceremony. The 8 2013 awards and 3 Hall of Fame presentations will be presented on SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 2013 at JACKMAN HALL at the Art Gallery of Ontario, starting at 8:30 PM.

Seating: 200 – priority seating for nominees, their family and friends and other industry professionals, with limited general admission seating.

The Art Gallery of Ontario – 317 Dundas Street West, Toronto, ON

The Art Gallery of Ontario is an art museum in Toronto’s Downtown Grange Park district, on Dundas Street West between McCaul Street and Beverley Street. Its collection includes more than 80,000 works spanning the 1st century to the present day.

Jackman Hall has it’s own entrance on McCaul Street, South of Dundas Street West (pictured above)

.About The Joe Shuster Awards

Established in 2004, The Joe Shuster Awards are Canada’s first national and bilingual award recognizing outstanding achievement in the creation of comic books, graphic novels and webcomics. The awards are named after pioneering Toronto-born artist Joe Shuster who, along with writer Jerry Siegel, created the iconic super-powered hero, Superman. The name is used with the approval of the Estate of Joe Shuster – Michael Catron, Estate Agent.

2013 marks the 75th year since the debut of Superman by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in the pages of Action Comics #1. Tom Grummett prepared this portrait of Joe in 2005 that has adorned the Joe Shuster Award plaques ever since. Fun facts: Joe was left handed, the building in the background is the original Toronto Star building that inspired the Daily Star / Daily Planet building in Superman’s Metropolis. On the drawing table behind Joe is an earlier version of ‘The Superman’.

Canada has a rich tradition of supporting our national arts communities with awards that recognize the achievements of our citizens like the Genie Awards for film and television and the Juno Awards for music – the JOE SHUSTER AWARD is Canada’s national award that honours and raises the awareness of Canadians that create, self-publish and sell all kinds of comics, graphic novels and webcomics.

Joe Shuster in 1975.

They are named after pioneering Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster (1914-1992), whose clear, dynamic style and inventive visual flourishes set the standard for graphic storytelling during the infancy of the North American comic book industry. It was Superman, a co-creation of Shuster and his friend Jerry Siegel, that electrified the industry 75 years ago in 1938 and, almost overnight, transformed comic books into an enormous pop-cultural phenomenon.

Nominees were selected this spring from lists of creators including all eligible original works published and distributed during the year 2012. Qualifying creators must be Canadian citizens living at home or abroad, as well as permanent residents in Canada. The award winners will be chosen by a jury vote to ensure every nominee is given adequate consideration.

The awards will be presented at a gala ceremony in Toronto, open to the public, on the evening of Saturday, August 24, 2013 at 8:30 PM. This year the awards will be held in JACKMAN HALL, at the Art Gallery of Ontario, 317 Dundas Street West, Toronto.

Okay, so the Prix Bedeis Causa were handed out last month, the Doug Wright Awards are being presented this Saturday night, and the Prix Bedelys are going to be presented on June 2nd.

Joe Shuster in 1975

What about the Joe Shuster Awards?

Well, they’ll be handed out in late August, and we’re almost finished with the selection process.

So far we’ve finalized the 2013 nomines for:

– Artist – Cartoonist – Cover Artist – Writer – The Harry Kremer Award for Comic Book Retailing – The Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame (aka what I like to call the “Hinterland’s Who’s Who”)

There will be 3 inductees into the Hall of Fame in 2013.

Still pending:

– The Gene Day Award for Self-Publishing – The Dragon Award for Comics for Kids/Younger Readers – Webcomics

The Nominating Committee for the Dragon Prize and for Webcomics have asked for a little extra time, while the Selection Committee for the Gene Day Award will be picking up some final books this weekend at TCAF to enlarge the pool of nominees.

We’ll be announcing the full list of nominees in a press release in late May, unfortunately we missed the Free Comic Book Day deadline I was shooting for.

The awards are going to be presented in Toronto this year, in late August – the specific date and venue will be announced later as well.

So everything is well under way now here at JSA central. We’re once again aiming for a Free Comic Book Day (May 4th) deadline for our nominee announcements.

I must say that it’s been an enthusiastic year for Canadian comics so far, as there’s been a lot going on recently – especially for things related to Canadian comics history. The shooting for the upcoming documentary LOST HEROES has wrapped and the crew is currently in post-production mode, we eagerly await the final product. We’ve been lucky enough to be able to watch some of the interviews filmed at the Comic Book Lounge, and I think people are in for a real treat when the film finally airs on Super Channel later this year. Here’s the official blurb followed by the promotional poster for the film:

Lost Heroes is a feature documentary set to air on Super Channel in 2013. We explore the history of the great Canadian superheroes, from Johnny Canuck to Captain Canuck. Currently in post-production.

Lost Heroes explores the past of the Canadian superhero, from the golden age when millions of children read the tales of Inuit goddess Nelvana of the Northern Lights, to the thrilling days when Canadian superheroes returned to the newstands with Captain Canuck and Cerebus. Lost Heroes celebrates the unique Canadian talent behind these characters and asks why can’t Canada keep their heroes?

Mister Monster by Fred Kelly, Captain Canuck by George Freeman, Fleur-de-Lys by Ken Steacy, with Adrian Dingle’s Nelvana and other characters in the background.

In what I’ve seen of it, this is a top-notch, professional production and I think it will be a great chance to expose a lot of people to Canada’s comics past, as well as it’s present and future.

With the completion of the eligible English and French list I’ve spent some time perusing the lists to play my guessing game of who I think the nominating committees will be selecting for the 2013 Joe Shuster Awards, and I think that this year’s list is strong, but seems to working from a smaller pool than in previous years. That certainly means that a lot of projects by people absent this year are on the horizon, but I’m eager to see who the nomcoms select.

Currently we have 19 individuals participating in the Nominating Committee for Artist, Cartoonist, Cover Artist and Writer. They come from across the country, but as per protocol we won’t be publishing their names until after they have finished their selections in case anyone drops out before the end.

Our Hall of Fame selection committee has expanded quite considerably this year, to make up for last year’s year off. Of the seven members, only three have participated in previous HOF nomcoms. Maybe I can convince them finally to rename the HOF “Hinterland’s Who’s Who”.

Want to meet leading graphic novelists and picture book creators? Or take part in a giant comic mural? Toronto’s future superheroes can do both at the Comic Arts for Kids Expo (CAKE), a daylong celebration of image-based storytelling for readers ages two to thirteen. This event is co-presented by Small Print Toronto, Little Island Comics and the Toronto Public Library.

Throughout the day, authors will sign and sketch in their books. Everyone who attends CAKE can contribute to a series of giant comic book panels. And the Little Island Comics team will be on hand to assist collectors of all ages.

The two to eight set can spend the morning exploring an ocean of activities in the DIY Comics Lab, featuring leading picture book artists Brothers Leung, J. Torres, J. Lum, Patricia Storms and Frank Viva.

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A new year is well underway and we are getting back to business here at JSA central!

Unfortunately, I was not able to run a wrap survey for 2012 as I normally do, work on the store and various events (such as the 24 Hour Comic Challenge we ran in-store this past Saturday at the Comic Book Lounge) have been keeping me pretty busy.

Currently being assembled for a late January release will be the LIST OF ELIGIBLE CREATORS AND 2012 PUBLICATIONS list, and if you want to be proactive and make sure your comics projects are recognized you can email me at kevin@joeshusterawards.com and I’ll update the list.

Current plans are for the nomination process to begin in earnest on February 1, so if you are interested in participating in nominating the 2012 award categories, you can email me at the same address listed in this article.

A later start for the process does seem indicative of an awards ceremony for later in 2013, and that is once again the case — as we have a weekend in mind, an event and a city in which to hold the ceremony, just not an official venue yet. Current plans are for the ceremony to take place in late summer at a venue that will be announced in March when the nominations are announced.

Montreal, QC – In a ceremony presided by JASON ROCKMAN and CATHERINE SMITH-DESBIENS at the MONTREAL COMIC-CON, the 8th Annual Joe Shuster Awards for Canadian Comic Book Creators and Retailers were presented to an enthusiastic crowd of nominees, friends and fans of the medium. Continue reading →

We’re now a mere 11 days away from the presentation of the 8th annual Joe Shuster Awards and we’ll be posting some updates as we near the event.

JURY DECISIONS

The Art Jury (Artist, Cover Artist and Webcomics) have finished their selections, as have the ones selecting the Dragon Prize and the Gene Day Award for Self-Publishing. That leaves the Retailer Jury and the Story Jury (Cartoonist and Writer), and we hope to have those wrapped up later today or early tomorrow.

HARRY KREMER RETAILER AWARD FINALISTS

The 10 stores have been narrowed down to a final five – watch for a release here shortly.

POSTER

Our promotional image is ready, just waiting for some final approvals.

HALL OF FAME

Our Hall of Fame committee has opted to pass on inducting a new member in 2012.

FINAL AWARDS LIST FOR 2012 (8 awards to be given out in Montreal on September 15):

Things may have slowed down considerably here on the site lately, as running a store as well as the awards, parts of the country’s largest comic-con and a day job have really taken a toll on my time. I had never expected to own a comic shop, but The Comic Book Lounge + Gallery has been growing steadily since we opened it back in February. Huge props go to manager Joe Kilmartin (formerly of the JSA Executive and former manager of Dragon Lady Comics), for handling the day to day aspects of running the Lounge.

If anyone has any interest in posting news items and articles here on the website, please contact me at kevin@joeshusterawards.com and we’ll get you hooked up.

It has been a very busy summer for everyone, with plenty of great news coming out of the San Diego con. A new series from Ed Brisson, Michael Walsh and Jordie Belaire called Comeback for Image. Also at Image, J. Bone will be doing a series called The Saviours with James Robinson, Darwyn Cooke will be doing at least two more Parker novels with The Hustle set for release in late 2013. Dale Keown will be joining Jeph Loeb for something called A Plus X.

Of course, the big news were the Eisner Awards, which have been summarized elsewhere on this site. Congratulations to the class of 2012! Darwyn and Ramon face off again in September in the Cartoonist category here for the Joe Shuster Awards.

The juries for 2012 have been selected and are beginning their review process. Thanks to the publishers who assisted us providing copies of nominated books for the jury to review. In this regard The Comic Book Lounge has become an official sponsor of the Joe Shuster Awards, providing some of the books not obtainable from the publisher directly.

It has been a big summer for books as well. Richard Stark’s Parker: The Score by Darwyn Cooke was released last week to great acclaim, the colourized Scott Pilgrim Volume 1 by Bryan Lee O’Malley and Nathan Fairbairn is set to arrive next week, as is Jeff Lemire’s The Underwater Welder.

The Dragon Award for Comics for Kids recognizes the works which capture the attention and fascination of young readers, and help to create a passion for life-long reading. Works considered for this award are comic books and graphic novels by Canadian creators that are targetted at readers 14 and under. Nominees were selected from the eligible creators lists by a team of educators led by Jennifer Stewart, MA, B.Ed., who is also the proprieter of Guelph, Ontario’s The Dragon comic book shop. In turn, this juried award is also be selected by an independent team of educators and librarians from across Canada, after giving thorough consideration to the nominated works.

In about 2 weeks time we’ll be announcing the final list of nominees for the 2012 awards.

2012 will see the presentation of 5 Joe Shuster Awards(down from 7 in 2011):– Artist/Artist Team – Cartoonist – Cover Artist – Webcomics Creator/Creative Team – Writer/Writing Team
and 3 Specialty Awards– The Dragon Award (Comics for Kids) – The Gene Day Award (Small Press) – The Harry Kremer Award (Comic Book Retailer)

Plus at least one Hall of Fame inductee, with a maximum of two inductees in 2012.

For transparency’s sake, here is a final recap of where we stand in the nominating process:

Four categories (artist, writer, cartoonist, cover artist) had two rounds of nominating. In the first, the 13 members presented short lists of creators who had English language comics published in 2011. From the overlapping selections, those who had three or more “votes” advanced to a second round and any creators with more than half of the votes advanced to ballot. In the second round the members ranked their choices from 1-10, with the top selections filling in the empty slots. A concurrent nomcom of 4 selected the finalists from French language comics published in 2011.

Webcomics was handled by the Executive, following a similar selection process, as each member of the Executive reviewed the entire list of eligible webcomics and submitted short lists of their top five, from which the top seven overlapping selections advanced to the final ballot.

While we can only have 7 or 8 nominees per category, we personally feel that the lists below represent the “best of the best” of the Canadian comics scene from 2011.

GENE DAY AWARD FOR SELF PUBLISHING
5 to be selected – winner also receives a $500 bursary
Finalists to be selected from comics submitted for consideration.Short list of considered works not available and the finalists are still undetermined as of today.

THE DRAGON AWARD for
COMICS FOR KIDS
8 were selected
This is a curated award, nominees were selected by teachers and librarians. Short list of considered works not available.

HARRY KREMER RETAILER AWARD
10 were selected – to be narrowed down to 5 in July
Retailers selected from lists of retailers available elsewhere on this site. JSA Executive coordinated visits to shops and evaluated them on things such as presentation, customer service, diversity of material.

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About Us

Comic books, like Jazz, are a North American invention that has been embraced all over the globe --- and from the Platinum Age to the present, Canadian artists, writers and cartoonists have been shaping it along the way.

The Joe Shuster Awards celebrate Canadians who create comics at home or abroad. They are named after Joe Shuster, the Canadian artist that co-created a character that has had tremendous impact on the industry and the world.

The Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards Association seeks to identify and provide FREE resources on the who, what, when and where of Canadians working in comics, selling comics, and celebrating comics.

What if a Canadian Creator Moves Away? Joe Shuster, Hal Foster – are they really Canadian?

Is Superman Canadian? Our position.

Fatman on Batman: Neal Adams discusses Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel

Positive Spirit and Determination: Debra Jane Shelly (1974-2014)

Jerry Robinson (1922-2011)

Thank you, Jerry. We will miss you.

2014 Winners were announced on September, 2014 in Toronto (click image to see results)

2014 Winners Announced in Toronto

2013 Winners were announced on August 24, 2013 in Toronto (click image to see results)

2012 WINNERS ANNOUNCED ON 9/15/2012 IN MONTREAL (CLICK ON THE IMAGE FOR DETAILS)

2011 WINNERS ANNOUNCED ON 6/18/2011 IN CALGARY (CLICK ON THE IMAGE FOR DETAILS)